


But I See Stars Around Your Face

by actuallyronanlynch



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, POV Ronan Lynch, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29421846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actuallyronanlynch/pseuds/actuallyronanlynch
Summary: Parrish [11:36]: Hey.Parrish [11:36]: Blue asked me to make myself scarce tonight since she's bringing Gansey and Cheng are back to our apartment after their dinner date.Parrish [11:38]: Any way you'd wanna order takeout or something and watch movies until it's deemed safe for me to return?
Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 22
Kudos: 193
Collections: The Raven Cycle





	But I See Stars Around Your Face

**Author's Note:**

> Dramatic Disaster Gay Ronan Lynch? Don't mind if I do.  
> Title from Sambuka by Pierce The Veil.

Ronan kind of hated Valentine's Day.

It all just felt so _fake_ to him; one designated day a year to show your love and affection by buying your partner tacky stuffed animals, gaudily-packaged chocolates and overpriced flowers? It was a capitalist hellscape.

All of that coupled with the fact that Ronan was brutally single led to his distaste for the holiday. Nobody liked being single on Valentine's Day, and though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he wasn't an exception to the rule. Gansey had planned a romantic dinner for Blue and Henry, and even _Noah_ had a date, for fuck's sake. 

Ronan intended to binge-eat the armful of chocolates he'd bought at the grocery store the night before, maybe drink the better part of a six pack and watch a few stupid action movies on Netflix, but a text from Adam Parrish the morning of the fourteenth sort of threw a wrench in those plans.

_Parrish [11:36]: Hey._

_Parrish [11:36]: Blue asked me to make myself scarce tonight since she's bringing Gansey and Cheng are back to our apartment after their dinner date._

_Parrish [11:38]: Any way you'd wanna order takeout or something and watch movies until it's deemed safe for me to return?_

Ronan stared at his phone for a long moment, unsure of how to reply. He and Adam had (begrudgingly, at first) stumbled into their friendship through their mutual link to Gansey, and their near-symbiotic friend group had manifested from there. Gansey had started dating Blue a few months ago, and Henry had joined their relationship shortly after.

The most pressing issue with the idea, Ronan thought, was that he'd been pining for Adam nearly as long as he'd known him. The thought of hanging out with him on Valentine's Day simply because their friends needed his apartment to fuck in left Ronan feeling more than a little put-out.

_Ronan [11:46]: how do you know i don't already have plans_

His phone vibrated immediately with Adam's reply, almost as if he'd been anticipating Ronan's bluff.

_Parrish [11:46]: Gansey told Blue that you're free tonight._

Goddamn Gansey and his meddling-ass partners.

_Ronan [11:47]: fine, whatever. what time do you need to be out by_

_Parrish [11:47]: Around seven._

_Ronan [11:48]: k_

_Parrish [11:48]: I'll see you then._

_\---_

"You're a motherfucker," Ronan told Gansey hours later as he stepped out of his bedroom dressed in a pair of well-tailored chinos and a smooth button-down.

Ronan was sprawled out on the small couch in their living room, his feet kicked up indolently onto the coffee table that was already littered with candy wrappers. Gansey frowned at him and Ronan wasn't sure if it was due to the mess or his attitude.

"Beg pardon?" Gansey asked, quirking a brow at him before ducking into the bathroom.

Ronan shoved himself off of the couch and followed, leaning heavily against the doorframe and watching as Gansey stared at his reflection in the mirror, trying to get his unruly hair to cooperate.

"You're a motherfucker," Ronan repeated, folding his arms over his chest. "You're really gonna pawn Parrish off on me so you can fuck around at his and Blue's apartment tonight? Really?"

Gansey sputtered indignantly at the crude choice of words, but Ronan didn't amend his statement. "I'm not pawning anyone off on you," Gansey said, meeting Ronan's gaze in the mirror. "Henry's roommates are having a party at his apartment tonight and you were, presumably, going to be here all evening, as well."

"That doesn't sound like a me problem," Ronan said, unsympathetic.

Gansey let out a drawn-out sigh, abandoning his fruitless efforts to tame his hair and turning to face Ronan properly. "We thought that you and Adam might enjoy spending the evening together since you are, you know, _friends_ ," Gansey said, looking a little unimpressed. He wasn't exactly wrong; Ronan and Adam had been hanging out alone more and more often, though Ronan hadn't been aware Gansey had taken notice of that. "Neither of you had dates tonight, anyway, and Blue and I thought it might be nice for you two to... I don't know, keep each other company?"

Ronan scoffed, his lip curling up in disgust. "Gee, thanks, Gans," he said, turning to head back to the living room. "Glad to know you think I'm so pathetic you have to arrange plans for me on Valentine's Day."

Gansey followed him out of the bathroom and perched himself on the arm of the sofa. "That isn't what I meant, Ronan," he said, ignoring Ronan's attempt to bait him into an argument. "I just thought you two might have a nice time together instead of getting drunk alone and watching Netflix until two in the morning."

"You don't know that's what I was going to do," Ronan said, annoyed that Gansey could see through him so easily. "I could have had a really hot date lined up that I didn't tell you about. For all you knew, I could have met a hot piece of ass on Grindr and invited him over to fuck around in _my own goddamn apartment_."

Gansey wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Please tell me you haven't actually downloaded Grindr."

Ronan rolled his eyes and slouched further down against the couch. "Obviously not," he muttered, reaching for a box of chocolates on the coffee table. "I'm just saying I _could've_."

"Well, now you and Adam can keep each other company, instead," Gansey said, reaching down to pat Ronan on the knee before he stood up and headed towards the door. "Behave tonight. I'll see you sometime tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, _Dad_ , whatever you say," Ronan said, shaking his head disbelievingly as he popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth. "Have fun arguing with Sargent over the bill at dinner."

After Gansey left, Ronan spent half an hour moodily watching a baking show he had zero interest in before deciding to actually tidy up before Adam arrived. The apartment wasn't a pigsty, exactly— it was arguably much cleaner than Ronan and Gansey had kept their place in high school. Still, Ronan had left a mess of wrappers on the coffee table, and he figured he should do at least the bare minimum and throw them away.

He wasn't exactly _nervous_ about Adam coming over, but it felt... oddly different than it usually did. Maybe he was letting all of the Hallmark romance get to his head. It wasn't like Gansey knew he was into Adam; Gansey was oblivious, unsurprisingly, so it wasn't like he was trying to set them up. Blue, on the other hand... Ronan wasn't so sure about her intentions.

_Ronan [6:58]: i hope ur happy btw. just know that i see right through your schemes_

_Sarg [7:01]: :))))) have a good night xoxoxo_

Ronan glanced up from his phone as he heard a knock at the front door, carelessly dropping the device back onto coffee table and hauling himself to his feet. He crossed the apartment and pulled the door open to find Adam standing in the hallway, a plastic grocery bag hanging off of one wrist.

"Hey," he said as Ronan stepped back to let him into the apartment. His cheeks were flushed from the cold outside and he smiled at Ronan in a way that made Ronan's heart clench in his chest.

"What's in the bag?" Ronan asked, trailing after Adam as he made a beeline for the kitchen.

"Ice cream," Adam said, retrieving the dessert from the grocery bag and hastily sticking it into the freezer. "Don't want it to melt."

"You didn't have to bring anything," Ronan said.

"I know. I wanted to, anyway."

Ronan leaned back against the counter and let out a soft breath, uncharacteristically conscious of his movements. "Do you want something to drink?"

"What do you have?" Adam asked.

"Um," Ronan said, stepping around Adam to pull open the door to the fridge. "We've got sweet tea, though it's kinda shit; ginger ale, this flavoured soda water Gansey buys, and orange juice."

"Orange juice is fine," Adam said, so Ronan grabbed two glasses down from the cupboard and filled them. They retreated to the living room and things began to feel a little more normal from there; they took their regular seats together on the tiny sofa and started flicking through Netflix to try to find something decent to put on.

"What were you thinking for dinner?" Adam asked, scooping Ronan's discarded phone up off of the table.

"I don't really care either way," Ronan said, looking over to where Adam was scrolling through Uber Eats on his phone. "Anything you feel like?"

Adam hummed softly, still tapping idly at the screen. "I'm fine with pretty much anything except pizza," he said. "Blue made some from scratch earlier this week and we had leftovers for days."

"Was it good, at least?" Ronan asked.

"She burnt one of them pretty badly," Adam said with a faint smirk. "The rest was okay, though."

"Amateurs," Ronan said, relishing in the small laugh it pulled from Adam.

"Anyway," Adam said, bringing them back to the subject at hand. "How do you feel about pho? There's this Vietnamese place downtown that I've been meaning to try for a while now."

"Pho's fine," Ronan said with a shrug, reaching forward to pluck a chocolate from the box that still sat on the coffee table.

"Aren't you supposed to wait until those go on sale tomorrow to buy them for yourself?" Adam said judgmentally.

"Fuck you, Parrish. How do you know a secret admirer didn't get them for me?"

Adam levelled Ronan with an unimpressed look. "I think having a secret admirer requires you to socialise with literally anybody at all."

Ronan tried hard to hide his smirk, but the way Adam looked deeply pleased with himself said he wasn't doing a very good job at it. "Order me the same as whatever you're getting," Ronan said, popping the chocolate into his mouth as he returned his attention to the TV. "Oh, and those squishy spring roll things. Those are good."

"M'kay," Adam hummed, focus back on the phone. "I'll e-transfer you my half."

"Sure," Ronan said, knowing that arguing with Adam about money was always going to be a losing battle on his part. He'd stopped trying months ago. He knew that he could get away with certain things, like buying Adam a coffee or picking him up from work when his car crapped out, but paying for his food was still off the table.

Whatever. It wasn't like they were on a date or anything.

"Okay, it should be here in forty minutes," Adam said, stealing a chocolate before Ronan had a chance to stop him.

Ronan grumbled under his breath and scrolled through Netflix for a few more seconds before giving up entirely. "Fuck, you pick something. You're just gonna say no to anything I suggest," Ronan said, tossing the remote at Adam.

Adam rolled his eyes but picked up the remote and dutifully began to scroll down the home page. "I only say no because the only thing you ever suggest is cheesy action movies." 

"They're not cheesy," Ronan argued. "They're _good_. For someone who likes cars so much, you sure don't like consuming any fucking media about them."

"I read a lot of good articles, actually," Adam said, and Ronan gagged dramatically in response. "Oh, shut up. I know you could read if you actually wanted to."

"Yeah, but I don't," Ronan said, grinning, and reveled in Adam's exasperated sigh.

"Do you like Studio Ghibli movies?" Adam asked, resting his chin in his palm as he continued scrolling.

"Yeah," Ronan said. "Which one specifically?"

"I was thinking _Spirited Away_." Adam glanced over at Ronan, gauging his response. "That one's my favourite," he added, a little quieter.

Ronan was incredibly endeared that Adam, who tried to be adult and professional in all aspects of his life, was acting _shy_ about his fondness for Studio Ghibli movies.

"We can watch that one," Ronan said. "My favourite's _Princess Mononoke_."

"That's very on-brand for you," Adam teased. "Of course you'd like the one with the most gratuitous violence and the forest full of animals."

Ronan knocked his shoulder into Adam's, annoyed. "Shut up. Why is _Spirited Away_ your favourite, then?"

Adam looked contemplative for a moment, picking absently at the rubbery buttons on the TV remote. "I like how determined and self-assured Chihiro is even though she's so young," he said after a moment. "I guess it's kind of heavy for something that's supposed to be for kids, but all Studio Ghibli movies are kind of like that, huh?"

Ronan felt a sudden wave of fondness wash over him, and he kept his gaze locked pointedly on the TV so Adam wouldn't be able to read his expression. "That's Japan for you."

Adam huffed out a quiet laugh and finally put the movie on, pulling his legs up onto the couch as he shifted to get more comfortable. Ronan was overly aware of how close they were seated on the sofa; Adam's feet were mere inches from his thigh, and the bare strip of skin between the hem of his jeans and the elastic of his socks was pathetically enticing to Ronan. Since when did _ankles_ merit this much attention?

He forced himself to focus on the movie, wishing retrospectively that he'd dimmed the lights before the film had started.

\---

The doorbell rang half an hour after they started the movie. Ronan hurried to grab their food before he missed anything important, though he'd seen the movie enough times that missing a few minutes of it wouldn't be the end of the world. He thanked the delivery guy and kicked the door shut with his heel, his stomach growling loudly as the smell of their dinner wafted up from the bag in his arms. The only thing he'd eaten throughout the day were the chocolates, which was a poor decision on his part. At least he wasn't drinking.

He turned off the overhead lights on his way back to the living room, flicking on one of the tableside lamps in its stead. Adam raised an eyebrow at him but didn't question it.

As he was unpacking the contents of the paper takeout bag onto the coffee table, Ronan realised that Adam had paused the movie even though he hadn't asked him to.

"You fine with chopsticks?" he asked, offering Adam a pair from the bag.

Adam hummed in affirmation and accepted the cutlery, prying the lid off of his pho and taking a tentative sip of the broth. "Mm, it's good."

Ronan settled back onto the couch and waited for Adam to start the movie before he dug into his own food. He slurped noisily at the broth just to be a shit disturber, and, predictably, Adam kicked at his legs in retaliation.

"Noisy," he muttered, leaving his feet pressed firmly against the outside of Ronan's thigh. Ronan busied himself with (quietly) sucking up a mouthful of noodles and pointedly ignoring the point of contact between them.

For as much shit as he'd given Gansey, Ronan had to admit that he enjoyed Adam's company. Adam was the only person who returned Ronan's insults instead of showing offence, who was savagely clever and kind of an asshole in a way that deepened Ronan's attraction to him tenfold. He'd only known Adam since the previous spring, but the draw to him had been immediate; Gansey had met him at a seminar about architecture during the Romantic Period, and just like that, Adam was a permanent fixture in their friend group.

It wasn't surprising to Ronan that Gansey had grown attached to Adam so quickly (that was just how Gansey _was_ ), but it was startling that he himself had grown so fond of Adam. For the first few months after they'd met, they bickered relentlessly and mostly forced themselves to get along for Gansey's sake and not their own. Ronan couldn't pinpoint an exact moment that the change had occurred, but insults became more teasing and less wounding, quarrelling became playful rather than cruel, and Ronan actually found himself enjoying Adam's company. They slowly started to spend time alone together, going for drives when Ronan picked Adam up from work or Ronan lazing around drawing in his sketchbook while Adam worked through assignments.

He was beginning to feel genuinely comfortable around Adam and it kind of scared the shit out of him.

Adam leaned forward to grab the container of spring rolls off of the coffee table, taking one for himself before offering them to Ronan.

"These are really good," he said, sounding pleasantly surprised. Ronan nodded mutely and took one for himself, still a little lost in his thoughts.

How was he supposed to know if Adam was interested in him, too? Adam wasn't particularly affectionate with anybody, and he'd never dated anyone in the time that Ronan had known him. He and Blue had apparently dated briefly during their undergrad, but that was years before Ronan had met either of them, and he'd rather die than ask Blue for advice about it.

Ronan barely had any dating experience, himself; he rarely paid enough attention to other people to tell if they were attracted to him, and even in Adam's case, where he paid an inordinate amount of attention to him, he still couldn't fully gauge what their interactions meant. 

When Adam was finished with his pho, he set the container carefully on the coffee table and curled up into an even tighter ball on the couch. His toes were still tucked snugly underneath Ronan's thigh, and Ronan fought to sit incredibly still so he wouldn't jostle him and cause him to move. By the end of the movie Adam looked like he was half asleep, his head resting on the arm of the couch with his arms clasped tightly against his chest. Ronan reached for the remote as carefully as he could, but when he closed the movie and exited back to the home screen, Adam let out a quiet sigh and slowly blinked awake.

"Sorry," he murmured, his voice softer than usual. "Didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's fine," Ronan said, glancing over at Adam. "If you need to nap, go ahead."

"No, I'm up," Adam insisted, shifting so he was sitting upright on the couch. His hair was a little rumpled from being pressed into the couch, and Ronan resisted the urge to reach out and smooth it down.

Ronan shoved the last spring roll into his mouth before standing up, grabbing their empty dinner containers to throw out in the kitchen. Adam followed after him, a few steps behind, and set his empty glass down beside the sink as they entered the kitchen.

"Did you want some of the ice cream?" Adam asked, moving to grab it from the freezer.

"What kind is it?" Ronan asked as he tossed the empty containers into the garbage. 

"Rocky Road," Adam said, holding it out for Ronan's inspection. Rocky Road was Ronan's favourite, though he didn't remember ever mentioning that to Adam. Maybe it was just a lucky guess.

"Looks good," Ronan said. It was one of the smaller sized pints of ice cream, the perfect size for just the two of them. It struck Ronan as a very Adam thing to consider when buying dessert to bring over.

He grabbed two spoons from the cutlery drawer before heading back out to the living room and tumbling back onto the couch. Adam sat down a little less gracelessly, accepting one of the spoons from Ronan as he peeled the film off of the ice cream and set it down on the coffee table.

"How's your piece for Jordan's exhibition going?" Adam asked conversationally, reaching over to scoop up a spoonful of the ice cream.

Ronan shrugged noncommittally, sucking out a chunk of chocolate from the ice cream on his spoon. "I've been making progress on it. It's still at the studio, but I sent Jordan some progress pics and she seemed to think it's going okay."

"Do you still have the pictures?" Adam asked. Ronan nodded in reply. "Can I see them?"

Ronan grabbed his phone and opened his photo gallery, passing it to Adam before sinking back against the couch. He watched Adam attentively as he looked over the pictures; his eyes flicked slowly over the screen, absorbing the details of the images. For as little as Ronan pretended to care about what people thought of his artwork, he felt a strange flutter of nerves in his stomach the longer Adam stared at the phone screen.

"It's really good, Ronan," Adam said earnestly, handing him back the device. Ronan spooned more ice cream into his mouth so he didn't have to respond. "You said the theme for the exhibition was... grief, right?"

"Yeah," Ronan said. He had initially refused Jordan's request to submit a piece for the exhibition; he didn't fuck a give about selling his art because he didn't need the money, and the topic of _grief_ wasn't something he was comfortable sharing with an audience. She'd wheedled him enough that he eventually relented, though he still hadn't decided if he was actually going to attend the show or not.

The painting portrayed a man sitting in front of a wilted tree with his head in his hands, done exclusively in black and white. It was only half finished, and though Ronan wouldn't admit it, he was proud of how it was turning out.

They lapsed into a mostly comfortable silence, working through the melting ice cream until they were too full to eat anymore. Adam got up to put it back in the freezer and Ronan shifted slightly on the sofa, suddenly feeling an unexpected restlessness.

"Hey, Parrish," he called, pushing himself off of the couch. "D'you wanna go for a drive or something?"

Adam stepped back out into the hall and leaned against the wall opposite the coat rack, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Sure," he said easily. "Your car?"

Ronan grinned instead of replying, grabbing his jacket off of the coat rack and heading for the door. They took the elevator down to the garage and quickly piled into the BMW, and Ronan had to turn the volume on the stereo all the way down when EDM started blaring through the speakers as soon as he started the car.

"Jesus Christ," Adam said, shaking his head as he flipped through radio stations in an attempt to find something more to his taste.

Ronan took them out of the garage and out onto the street proper, navigating down side streets and picking up speed the further they got from the main roads. 

There was little that relaxed Ronan as much as driving the streets at night; even with someone in the passenger seat and the lack of deafening electronica, he still found that it settled the restlessness that had been building back at his apartment. He tried to keep his eyes on the road as he steered them towards the highway, but he found his gaze flitting to Adam the longer they sat in silence in the car.

Adam was already looking at him, picking absently at his sweater sleeves that poked out under the cuffs of his jacket. Ronan glanced away, swallowing thickly and trying to suppress the little thrill he got from catching Adam staring first. He picked up a little bit of speed, flicking on his blinker at the last second as he switched into the adjacent lane.

Adam let out an indignant yelp and reached for the grab handle. "You're actively trying to give me a heart attack," he accused, but Ronan could see him smiling in his peripheral vision.

"I can see the headlines now," Ronan said. "'Virginian sweetheart Adam Parrish, twenty-three, master's student and mechanic, dies of cardiac arrest on the eve of February fourteenth."

Adam scoffed, tilting his head so it was resting against the window. "Don't get into journalism," he said. "That was far too wordy to grab any reader's attention."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ronan said. "I'd be a perfect journalist. I have the active vocabulary of a third grader."

That prompted a proper laugh from Adam, one of the ones that seemed to be startled out of him before he had a chance to reign in his emotions. "At least you paint better than a third grader," he said, his voice soft like it had been after he'd woken up on the couch.

Ronan risked another glance at Adam as he brought them down to a reasonable speed; the street lights lit him in a washed-out, eerie glow, highlighting his gaunt features while casting the rest of him in shadow. He looked so pretty it nearly hurt, causing an ache in Ronan's chest that made it a little hard to breathe.

Adam shifted in his seat so he was sitting up a little straighter and reached out to roll down the window on his side of the car. Ronan cast him a questioning look, but he merely smirked and stuck his arm out the window, the rush of cold February air causing his hair to blow back from his face. Ronan shook his head and tried to bite back the smile he could feel tugging at his features, cranking the volume on the stereo up and watching as Adam grinned triumphantly in response.

_This_ was what he loved about Adam; polite, professional Adam throwing propriety to the wind and letting the freezing air whip around them as they sung along off-key to the old rock song blaring from the car's speakers. Adam was always a little more reckless with him, and Ronan liked to think it was because he was comfortable enough to let his guard down when it was just the two of them together.

They drove around aimlessly for another twenty minutes until Ronan's hands nearly froze in their grip on the steering wheel. They rolled the windows back up and cranked the heat, but the way Adam's eyes lit up as they drove back to the apartment made the chill and the runny nose worth it in the end.

They sat in silence for a few moments after Ronan had parked in the garage, but it felt significantly more loaded than it had throughout the rest of the evening. He didn't know what time it was, but it had to be getting late; he tried to suppress the irrational disappointment he felt that Adam would likely be heading back to his apartment soon.

"Come on," Adam said, unbuckling his seat belt. "We should head inside."

Ronan shucked his jacket once they were back in his flat and hung it up on the coat rack, glad to be back in the warmth of the apartment and out of the biting cold. "You know," Ronan said. "I'm really not a fan of this whole winter thing."

Adam chuckled as he leaned around Ronan to hang up his own jacket, and Ronan's breath caught in his throat as they were suddenly much closer together than he'd been anticipating. Adam straightened but didn't take a step back, and Ronan watched as Adam's gaze lingered on his lips before darting back up to meet his eyes.

Ronan could feel his heart beating faster against his ribcage the longer they stood in each other's space, though neither of them made any move to step away. Adam looked like he was... waiting for something, almost, looking at Ronan with his head tilted to the side and an expectant look on his face.

"Ronan," he said, breaking through Ronan's hazy thoughts. He reached out slowly and hooked two fingers under the leather bracelets circling Ronan's wrist, his calloused fingertips rough against the sensitive skin.

"Can I kiss you?" Ronan asked, his stomach twisting into knots as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"Yeah," Adam breathed, almost urgently, and then Ronan's lips were against his.

Kissing Adam was somehow everything that Ronan imagined it would be; he was hungry and reactive, pliable as Ronan fisted his hands in the front of his sweatshirt and pulled him even closer. Adam pushed him back against the wall with his hands anchored to Ronan's hips, his kisses quickly evolving from eager and exploratory to confident and biting. He nipped at Ronan's bottom lip and Ronan drew in a sharp breath, moving one hand to the back of Adam's neck and twisting his fingers in the short hair at the nape of his neck. Adam hummed in approval as Ronan tugged lightly at his hair, and when Ronan felt Adam swipe his tongue gently along the seam of his lips, he parted them obligingly.

It was almost too much for Ronan to handle, and he worried for a moment that he had dreamed everything up; Adam's tongue in his mouth, Adam's thumbs pressing into his hip bones, Adam, Adam, _Adam_.

Adam was just starting to trail wet, open-mouthed kisses along the side of Ronan's jaw when his phone vibrated loudly in his pocket, causing them both to pause abruptly. Ronan exhaled shakily, breaking the brief moment of silence, and Adam pressed one last kiss to the underside of Ronan's jaw before letting their foreheads rest together.

"I've wanted to do that," Adam said, his voice rougher than Ronan had ever heard it, "for such a long time."

"You— Wait, what?"

Adam laughed breathily at Ronan's evident surprise, letting his arms wrap loosely around Ronan's waist. "I can't decide if it's endearing or infuriating that you're genuinely this clueless." Ronan wanted to protest, but then Adam was kissing him again and any argument he had died on the tip of his tongue.

They stayed like that for a while, swapping languid kisses that made it hard for Ronan to think straight. Adam's phone eventually buzzed again a few times in succession, and Ronan pulled back to look at him with a mix of annoyance and amusement.

"Is Sargent giving you the okay to head home, now?" he asked, half-teasing.

"She texted me that a while ago, actually," Adam said, leaning back in to nip at Ronan's throat. "I just really didn't feel like heading back to my place."

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Adam did find out from Gansey that Rocky Road was Ronan's favourite flavour of ice cream, and yes, Blue definitely did try to set them up on Valentine's Day 😜  
> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated ❤


End file.
